This invention relates generally to seals used between a cylindrical shaft and a bore of a housing and, more particularly, to seals used to isolate a lubricant path between the housing and the shaft.
In automobile transmissions as well as other applications, lubricant may be required to flow between a lubricant passage within a housing and a lubricant passage within a shaft located in a bore of the housing. For example, the lubricant may be used for lubricating bearings, gear sets and one-way clutches, and for actuating multi-plate clutch packs. Typically, two separate seals are used between the housing bore and the shaft to prevent the lubricant from flowing axially along the bore of the housing over the outside surface of the shaft.
Present designs generally require grooves to be machined in the shaft to form a seat for the seals and to provide a circumferential lubricant path, thereby reducing the strength of the shaft and requiring costly machining. In addition, such designs may not be suitable for automated assembly and may result in wear or leakage of the seals. Furthermore, those designs may not be suitable for applications where the shaft or housing is made of aluminum or other material without acceptable wear properties for sealing.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present devices and methods. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.